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Saturday, September 23, 2006

Some pictures of the Trinity Folk from 1971, showing they were a four-piece band. The linchpin appears to have been John Pac. The first picture is from the Sound Vision in Concert album sleeve from 1971.

The second appears to have been an event, in Liverpool from September 1971.

The caption lists the group members as Pete (guitar, autoharp and mandolin), Sue (guitar),Norman (banjo and guitar) and John (guitar & sitar). So no Keith Ryecroft at this point. Pete and Norman would appear to be the same guys as at Sound Vision but a year later they had been replaced by Keith Rycroft. The puzzle is that the woman looks nothing like Sue McClellan.

Either the photo has been crudely edited - or Sue McClellan's predecessor was another 'Sue'. Not impossible, but the date suggests the explanation is some crude editing with scissors and pen that went wrong.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Bob Dylan has led me to the discovery that there were two versions of Rehearsal for a Reunion. The album came out originally in a blue double sleeve with a cartoonish depiction of the band on the back. This showed the two guys, at the time John Pac and Pete Yates-Round in a balloon with Sue McCellan on a parachute. This was the one I had originally. The second version was a single sleeve, completely redesigned with new fonts and colours by a second graphics company. The lyrics were on an insert. The only common feature is the photograph, as featured here.

Curiously it is Golden Game which confirms that even the lyrics were typeset for a second time. In the first version the first line is "Keep on Walking Where the Angels Showed", in the second it is "Keep on Walking When the Angels Showed".

Both versions give the hook line of the first verse as "Over the Old Golden Land", changing it later to "Over in the Old Golden Land". However it is clearly sung as 'in' throughout - indicating the flexible nature of the words of this song.

Curious the way the sleeve was redesigned for an album which can't have sold a massive number of copies and wasn't sold in the USA.

* Footnote (March 2007)- Pete Yates-Round explains: "Because of the budget we were entitled to a gatefold and after talking to the designers the sleeve was designed and printed. It didn't turn out how we all imagined it would so due to another pressing of the album it was decided to go to the single one. Incidentally I do not have a copy of the gatefold!"

The String Band's version, incorporated into their song Job's Tears : "When the deal goes down, I'll put my crown, Over in the old golden land"

The traditional version: "When the devil goes down, I'll take my crown, Over in the old golden land"

In one of his verses Dylan rhymes the line thus:The midnight rain follows the trainWe all wear the same thorny crownSoul to soul, our shadows rollAnd I'll be with you when the deal goes down

Dylan's song and Golden Game are "end of life" songs, both anticipating eventual reunion. Dylan's lyrics are of course a little more opaque than the original. I've embedded a link to the video on YouTube in the heading.

This is the String Band's version of Golden Game in full:

Keep on walking where the angels showed(All will be one)Travelling where the saints have trodOver in the old golden landIn the golden book of the golden gameThe golden angel wrote my nameWhen the deal goes down I'll put my crownOver in the old golden land

I won't need to kiss you when we're there(All will be one)I won't need to miss you when we're thereOver in the old golden land

We'll understand it better in the sweet bye and byeYou won't need to worry and you won't have to cryOver in the old golden land

This, I understand, is the original version in full:In the golden book of the golden gameA golden angel wrote my nameWhen the devil goes downI'll take my crownOver in the old golden land

You won't have to miss me when we're there-all will be one all will be oneYou won't have kisse me when we're there-over in the old golden land

We'll understand it better in the sweet by and by-all will be one, all will be oneYou won't have to worry and you won't have to cry-over in the old golden land

There in the land that is brighter than day-all will be one, all will be oneThe father will be waiting across the way-over in the old golden land

And if you want to hear Parchment's highly-praised acapella version you will have to track down the vinyl. For reasons discussed previously, it's not on Simply...Parchment or any other CD.

Pandora.com now includes two tracks from Parchment - Love is Come Again and Son of God. That's because their library now includes the Under the Silent Tree compilation of 70s acid folk (see earlier blog).

I'm looking forward maybe to hearing some other tracks from the compilation on pandora as I have not got round to getting it yet. Most of the reviews identified the Parchment songs as the highlights of the album so the rest is intriguing.

You can listen to the Parchment songs on pandora simply by entering their names or the name of the band. Both these songs come from the Light Up the Fire album.